Charity Gausi is a 32-year-old single mother, living in the village of Chikunthu. Few would guess that because of her help, the community has grown from facing huge challenges to welcoming even bigger opportunity. Chosen to head out the SAFI initiatives of self-reliance, Charity participated in a two-week course at SAFI campus to learn livestock management, agroforesty, family relations, modernized farming, and backyard garden techniques. Soon after returning home, she started not only implementing these programs, but teaching 15 other families to do the same.

Before being approached by SAFI, Charity and her young daughter were facing food insecurity and low crop yield. Struggling to get a leg up, Charity was lacking the knowledge and skill necessary to take her limited resources and reach success. Nowadays, Charity has taken her harvest from three bags of maize to 22—more than a 7x increase. On top of this, she has multiplied her income by a factor of ten, now making around MWK 700,000 a year thanks to her small business endeavors.

Of all the students of Charity’s, each one now has a backyard garden to source their own vegetables, sells the surplus of their crops, and has invested in livestock. One student sticks out in particular though—Charity’s mother, Grace. Since learning the new techniques from SAFI, Grace has doubled her income and expanded her livestock investments. She no longer struggles to find food, and can support all her children and their basic needs. With all this prosperity, Grace’s household has become a happier, more stable environment. “Without money, we quarreled. Now, we work together and are happy,” she says. In the future, Grace hopes to one day buy a car to get around, now that her age is affecting her joints. “Thank you SAFI for what you have done in my family and my community. Other communities need to benefit like we have. I’m so grateful for what SAFI does!” We share the same sentiment. The family and community impact of SAFI’s simple programs has effects that ripple across generations, changing families, communities, and the beautiful country of Malawi.

In 2023, SAFI visited the village of Chukozo, looking to find participants for their one-week self-reliance program. After speaking with the village chief, Johannes Phiri was chosen to fill the role. He would go to SAFI campus for one week to learn modernized farming techniques, business management, agroforestry, and fruit cultivation skills that he could then bring back to his village and teach others to implement. Currently, he leads 42 other farmers in the village, teaching them the about the skills SAFI has given him to increase his harvest and make his farm sustainable. “We were only getting maybe half a bag of soybeans, for example, but now we are able to get seven, eight bags of soybeans. The maize, we used to harvest 2-3 bags before, but now we’re able to get 60 bags.” Johannes says. With this increase, Johannes and his wife have multiplied their income, making MWK 1.5 million from selling the surplus from last year’s harvest. Visiting the farm, you can see the impact that this program has had. With the extra money, the family has invested in more livestock, rebuilt their house, bought more land—they no longer go hungry at any point in the year. Every square inch of their property is covered with trees, flowers, or crops. Johannes mentioned that one of his sons has taken up the new farming techniques, now selling a surplus and producing enough to feed his family reliably. As for the community, Johannes says that much has changed. Because of the food insecurity, theft of crops was very common. Now that Johannes has helped so many farmers to start backyard gardens, there is no longer any need to steal. The village is a safer, better nourished community. Many fellow farmers have followed in Johannes’ footsteps, making great strides in their economic progress. In the future, Johannes and Gloria hope to build a better house, start a commercial farm, and raise more livestock.

Thomas Mwale is a 42-year-old father of four—not one many would expect to be studying at university. Eight years ago, Thomas was a working professional struggling to pay for the needs of his family, like many people in Malawi. He had dreams of serving the needy and pursuing his passion of helping others. He enrolled in university courses studying social work, but was unable to continue due to the tuition cost. Facing the threat of dropping out but wanting to pursue his dreams, he was presented with the opportunity to continue studying through SAFI’s Educate the Children program. His dreams were back in the realm of possibility, and Thomas took that possibility and ran with it. Supported by SAFI, Thomas finished his degree in four years. Since then, he has dedicated his life to seeking out vulnerable students in rural villages—those unlikely to be able to become educated, such as children of poor farmers, orphans, and the sick or handicapped. Working within those communities, Thomas has been able to identify these children, monitor their progress, and connect them with the necessary support, such as health care and adoption programs. In connection with the very program that supported his education, Thomas has provided scholarships to over one hundred students. “I feel happy to see the kids succeed. Some of them I found when they were seven or eight, now they’re completing university,” says Thomas. But Thomas doesn’t plan on stopping there. We met him at the Malawi College of Medical Science, where he is working towards his certificate in public health. Soon after, he plans on opening a hospital that specifically serves children under five—the first of its kind in Malawi. “I see the challenges that children face, and I have to help. The possibilities in the future of these children is great, they just need some support.” Without the SAFI’s support of one student, Thomas, hundreds of children in Malawi would have been denied the opportunity to succeed and make a difference. “The knowledge I have gained from school, I can communicate to those in need. Without SAFI, I wouldn’t have the training necessary to bring growth to the needy. We have to continue helping needy students. I myself have benefitted, and many have benefitted because of me. If SAFI didn’t support me, these kids wouldn’t have had a chance.” Continued support to the Educate the Children program doesn’t just help individuals—families and communities grow and progress, leading the nation to prosperity through the simple act of paying school fees.

Massa Chunga is a first year student at the Malawi College of Health Science. Starting last week, he is adjusting to his new life in Lilongwe. Massa is from a small village called Madisi, very close to SAFI campus in the district of Dowa. Massa was raised by his godfather after both of his parents passed away, and is the first member of his family to pursue a college education. Upon finishing his education, he will be the first in his community to become a doctor. Massa became aware of the difficulties that many of his friends and family face daily in trying to receive adequate medical care—there is no public hospital in the village of Madisi, and very few could pay the expenses of private clinics. This inspired Massa to want to become a doctor and help his community by opening a clinic and offering free services to those who cannot afford care. Massa commented that most people who become doctors in Malawi stay in the capital of Lilongwe because of higher salaries. He didn’t seem swayed by this, staying true to his motivation to help the poor.

Up until now, Massa has been unable to pay the MK400,000 ($228 USD) per semester tuition to start his education. For the past eight years, Massa has tried and failed to come up with the money. Massa still faces challenges, walking everyday for two hours to reach campus. He still lacks basic needs, often coming to school without enough food. These things make it difficult, but his determination to his dream wouldn’t let him quit. He has overcome many challenges up to this point and refuses to give up. Now, SAFI pays his tuition and supplies him with a small stipend to continue studying. Massa is grateful to SAFI for allowing him the opportunity to pursue his dreams of serving the poor and needy.

Arriving to the village of Yohane in the district of Mnchinji, you will be greeted by happy faces and voices singing welcome songs. The village is bustling with life. This hasn’t always been the case—before SAFI arrived in 2022 to build a borehole, many members faced the insurmountable problem of water insecurity. Well water is often the only solution—but it hardly is one. Women in the village used to spend hours daily walking to a shallow well nearby, only to wait in overcrowded lines to be using unsafe water. Many people suffered from diarrhea and other illnesses when relying on the untreated well water. All this changed however, when the village leaders were approached in 2022 to become SAFI beneficiaries. Initially, SAFI hoped to start their self-reliance program, teaching people to become independent farmers with access to enough food. This proved a challenge however, when they realized that doing so would be impossible without a reliable source of water. “We proposed that they teach us how to construct a backyard garden, but we don’t have enough water. They told us it was more important that we drill a borehole, so we proposed that to them,” says the village’s lead farmer.

Nowadays, water can be readily retrieved by just walking a few minutes. The people have enough water for anything they need, and have seen numerous improvements in their families and communities. Before, many children were unable to go to school as their mothers couldn’t fetch enough water to bathe them, wash their clothes, or cook for them. Many students dropped out of school because of these challenges.After the borehole has been drilled, the students have been able to return to school. Their parents, with the newfound time, have built gardens, irrigate their crops, and supply the basic needs for their homes. Village members rotate cleaning duties and pay to supply parts and maintenance, in order to keep things running smoothly.

The peace of mind afforded to hundreds of people in Yohane is priceless. The benefits of the borehole extend much beyond just water—the village is alive, and will continue to prosper. “We only thank SAFI for drilling the borehole, because now we are so safe. We drink clean water as I said, we construct backyard gardens and find food easily. We just thank SAFI for drilling the borehole, all of our problems have been solved!”

Filimoni Mtalimanja is the lead farmer of Sunduza, chosen by his village chief to teach other members of the village about SAFI’s life-changing interventions. There was only one problem—the village depended on shallow, hand-dug wells from the nearby river. Village members, mostly women, would spend hours walking to the river to retrieve water, only to get sick from drinking it.

All of this changed last November when SAFI drilled a borehole to support the members in their adoption of the self-reliance programs. “Since the borehole was installed, we are healthier, there is a reduction in diarrhea cases. Women no longer have to travel at night to collect water, and are free from danger,” Filimoni says. Beyond that, the people now have more time and energy to develop their homes and village. With extra water to irrigate his backyard garden, Filimoni has made enough profit to buy an oxcart. “The collective development of the village, I see through my own home,” he says. Many members of the village have followed Filimoni’s lead, implementing important agricultural techniques that he learned through SAFI. In the future, he hopes to see livestock and small business growth, as well as better quality of life in his home.

Filimoni says, “I commend SAFI for what they have done in our community. It has given us agricultural knowledge, sanitation, it has also given us the borehole which has changed a lot of things in the community. I ask that SAFI do this for more communities in this country.”